The ceremony for the awarding of the Honoris Causa Degree in Medicine and Surgery to Professor Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele, honorary president of the Rome Foundation, was held in the Rome branch of the Catholic University. “In the life of a university, the awarding of an Honoris Causa Degree is an act of great significance, through the indication of virtuous examples of interaction between knowledge, action and society. Our Faculty of Medicine and Surgery has always shown itself to be aware of the responsibility inherent in identifying women and men, whose knowledge and action were really and effectively oriented to the common good ”, said the Rector Franco Anelli in the opening greeting of the ceremony.
“With the decision to confer the Honoris Causa Degree in Medicine and Surgery to Professor Emmanuele Emanuele – continued Rector Anelli – we wanted to recognize and emphasize first of all the relevant results of his commitment, especially at the helm of the Rome Foundation, to stimulate research scientific research in the medical field and to support the efforts of health professionals to increase the quality and effectiveness of their respective services, by completing and innovating their respective structures and instrumental equipment. Numerous realities have benefited from this attention and sensitivity, including our “Agostino Gemelli” University Hospital IRCCS, in which even recently, thanks to this support, it has been possible to prepare an additional intensive therapy and create the new Center for Diseases. Digestive (CEMAD) “.
“The attribution of this Honoris Causa Degree – concluded the Rector – finds its deepest root in the consideration of the intellectual contribution of Prof. Emanuele, and of the ways in which he has always tried to carry out his work, leading us to recognize in him, as we read in the minutes of the Faculty Council: “a model of generosity and righteousness” and an “authentic example for future generations”. Also for this, Prof. Emanuele, we are deeply grateful to you and warmly congratulate you “.
The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Rocco Bellantone then read the reasons with which the Faculty intended to attribute the academic recognition: “Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele is a personality of civil society particularly committed to promoting and creating unique works in the social and health context .
Philanthropist and patron in the fields of Science, Art, Culture and Solidarity, he distinguished himself for his exceptional contribution to scientific progress in the biomedical field, enhancing respect for the dignity of the human person. In the long course of his humanitarian activities he has been inspired by the principles of Christian and Catholic identity.
In consideration of the exceptional activity carried out in support of medical research and for the generous commitment in the promotion of articulated and innovative projects in the health sector – characterized by particular attention to the needs and quality of life of the patient – Professor Emanuele represents, also for the competence and dedication imprinted in his works, an authentic model of service and social solidarity, offering inspiration and example to future generations. For these reasons, the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in the meeting of May 12, 2021, unanimously proposed the conferral of the Honorary Degree in Medicine and Surgery to Professor Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele “.
The honorary degree to Professor Emanuele is the fifth awarded by the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery since 1961, the year of its establishment. These are the previous conferral of the academic title: 10 December 1981 – Sister Agnese Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Saint Teresa of Calcutta; November 12, 1990 – Professor Giovanni Battista Marini Bettolo Marconi; February 12, 2004 – Dr. Diana Bracco; September 11, 2014 – Professor Barry J. Marshall.
“This is the most rewarding and coveted recognition in my entire life – said Professor Emanuele in his speech – Over the years I have obtained five degrees, but none is comparable to today’s, not only for the importance of a reality that gives it to me, but because I come from a family of doctors and my parents’ expectation was that I would become a doctor “. “My family – continued Emanuele – gave me a humanitarian and social vision towards the less fortunate of the time, a great attention to those who lived in the most abandoned neighborhoods of my city. After World War II I was attracted to the role of finance as an instrument of growth and development in its saving component, convinced that I had to share with the most needy what God had given me, aware that education and culture break down social barriers and create a common dialogue “. “Animated by these convictions – he said – I then came into contact with the realities of the Catholic University and the Gemelli Polyclinic, supporting important research, assistance and treatment projects. This is a fundamental place for me, a place where I feel at home: this is why I say that this degree really has no equivalent for me “. “The affection and recognition that the Catholic University has shown me – concluded Professor Emanuele – allows me to say that I have fully rediscovered in this place the union between science, solidarity and the teachings of the Catholic Church that have always guided my life”.
.